Design Archives

On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century

Description

Project brief:
The project was to produce an exhibition catalogue to accompany a show at the Museum of Modern Art called On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, an exploration of the expansive nature of drawing and its relationship to painting and sculpture, photography and film, and dance and performance. Because the show was based on a novel and somewhat esoteric curatorial concept rather than a particular artist or time period, it was important to create a visually appealing catalogue that could capture the attention of bookstore browsers unfamiliar with the show, while clearly conveying the curators’ vision.

Approach:
We worked with the curators/authors and MoMA’s production team to come up with a design and layout that would accommodate two extensive essays and more than 200 illustrations. Rather than having a traditional plates section, we chose to incorporate all the images into the essays to highlight the relationship between them. We reflected the organization of the exhibition by interspersing three booklets of full-bleed image details that showcase works within each category. The paper for the book was chosen because it is smooth enough that works of all mediums reproduce crisply on it but it still feels slightly like drawing paper.

Effectiveness:
The catalogue weaves together the text and images into a cohesive volume that is visually striking. The layout reflects the spirit of the exhibition by allowing works to interact with each other rather than simply be presented.